''Freaky Friday'' is a 2003 American

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and drama ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Mark Waters Mark Stephen Waters (born June 30, 1964) is an American filmmaker who directed the comedy films '' Freaky Friday'', '' Mean Girls'', '' Ghosts of Girlfriends Past'', '' Mr. Popper's Penguins'', and '' Vampire Academy''. Filmography Film Prod ...

and written by Heather Hach and

Leslie Dixon Leslie Dixon is an American screenwriter and film producer. She began her career as an original screenwriter, writing films such as 1987's '' Outrageous Fortune'' and ''Overboard''. She then moved into adaptations and re-writes, developing the sc ...

, based on Mary Rodgers's 1972 novel of the same name. It stars

Jamie Lee Curtis Jamie Lee Curtis (born November 22, 1958) is an American actress, producer, children's author, and activist. She came to prominence with her portrayal of Lt. Barbara Duran on the ABC sitcom '' Operation Petticoat'' (1977–78). In 1978, she m ...

and

Lindsay Lohan Lindsay Dee Lohan ( ; born July 2, 1986) is an American actress and singer. Born in New York City and raised on Long Island, Lohan was signed to Ford Models at the age of three. Having appeared as a regular on the television soap opera '' ...

as a mother and daughter, respectively, whose bodies are switched by a mysterious and magical Chinese

fortune cookie A fortune cookie is a crisp and sugary cookie wafer usually made from flour, sugar, vanilla, and sesame seed oil with a piece of paper inside, a "fortune", usually an aphorism, or a vague prophecy. The message inside may also include a Chines ...

. The film was released in theaters on August 6, 2003, by

Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American Film studio, film production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action featur ...

and distributed by

Buena Vista Pictures Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, formerly known as Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. until 2007, is an American film distribution studio within the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. It ha ...

. The film received largely positive reviews from critics, with praise for the performances (particularly that of Curtis and Lohan), but criticized the transformation scene. The film was also a commercial success, grossing over $160 million worldwide on a $26 million budget. The film also earned Curtis a

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. It was Disney's third film adaptation of the novel, after the 1976 film, starring Barbara Harris and

Jodie Foster Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster (born November 19, 1962) is an American actress and filmmaker. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, three British Academy Film Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and the hon ...

, and the 1995 made-for-TV film, starring

Shelley Long Shelley Lee Long (born August 23, 1949) is an American actress, singer, and comedian. Long portrayed Diane Chambers on the hit sitcom ''Cheers'' and received five Emmy nominations, winning in 1983 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Ser ...

and

Gaby Hoffmann Gabrielle Mary Antonia HoffmannStated on '' Finding Your Roots'', November 21, 2017 (born January 8, 1982) is an American actress. She initially found success as a child actress, appearing in '' Field of Dreams,'' '' Uncle Buck,'' and '' Sle ...

Plot

Aspiring teenage

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who w ...

Anna Coleman lives with her widowed

therapist Therapist is a person who offers any kinds of therapy. Therapists are trained professionals in the field of any types of services like psychologists, social workers, counsellors, life coachers and others. They are helpful in counselling individual ...

mother, Tess, and younger brother, Harry. Tess is about to marry her fiancé, Ryan, whom Anna has not entirely accepted as she has not properly moved on from the death of her biological father three years earlier. At school, Anna's English teacher, Mr. Elton Bates, treats her unfairly, giving her an F on every assignment regardless of how well she does. She is also feuding with Stacey Hinkhouse, her former best friend-turned-nemesis and a bully. Anna has a crush on a school staff member, Jake, of whom her mother disapproves. Anna also serves as the lead guitarist in the band, Pink Slip, which is scheduled to audition for a spot in Wango Tango at the

House of Blues House of Blues is an American chain of live music concert halls and restaurants. It was founded by Isaac Tigrett, the co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, co-star of the 1980 film '' The Blues Brothers''. The first location opened at ...

, the same night as the wedding rehearsal, so Tess forbids Anna from going. At a dinner at Pei-Pei's Chinese restaurant, the two get into a heated argument. Pei-Pei's mother interrupts their quarrel by giving them

s. They both go into separate rooms, read their fortunes aloud, and immediately feel an intense

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

to which the rest of the restaurant is oblivious. The next morning, Anna and Tess wake up in each other's bodies. "Anna" (Tess in her daughter's body) goes to school and begins to fully understand her daughter's woes. She experiences bullying from Stacey and recognizes Mr. Bates as an old high school classmate, realizing that he is treating Anna unfairly as revenge for Tess turning down a prom invitation from him years ago. "Anna" threatens Mr. Bates with reporting him to the school board unless his treatment of Anna stops. Meanwhile, "Tess" (Anna in her mother’s body), after giving her new body a makeover, has difficulty handling the patients. At lunchtime, "Anna" and "Tess" return to the restaurant, but Pei-Pei explains that only showing selfless love for each other will cause the switch to be reversed. "Tess" attends Harry's parent-teacher conference, where she reads a composition about how much he actually admires Anna, and decides to be nicer to him. "Anna" attempts to make amends with Stacey, but Stacey frames her for cheating on a test and "Anna" gets sent to detention. When Jake notices "Anna" sneaking out of detention, he offers to help her finish the test. Jake takes "Anna" to the file room in the teachers' lounge and she realizes that she misjudged him, but he loses his enamoration towards "Anna" after she sabotages Stacey's test by erasing most of the answers and writing "I'M STUPID!" on it. Ryan surprises "Tess" with a

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk S ...

interview to discuss her latest

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

book. To disguise the fact that she hasn't read the book, "Tess" goes into an amusing tirade about getting older. "Anna" and Jake watch the interview on television and while she is embarrassed, he is impressed. "Tess" bumps into Jake at his second job, a coffee shop, and they bond over their favorite music. At the rehearsal dinner, Anna's friends Maddie and Peg, two of her bandmates, try to convince "Anna" to sneak off to the audition, but they are caught by security. Ryan surprisingly gives "Anna" permission to go, explaining that he just wants the kids to accept him, and urges "Tess" to support the band, finally winning her over. Since "Anna" cannot play, "Tess" plays the guitar backstage while "Anna" mimes along. Realizing her daughter is indeed musically talented, "Anna" promises to treat her daughter's band with more respect, and during the show, Jake becomes enamored with "Anna" again upon seeing her perform. Back at the rehearsal dinner, "Anna" tells "Tess" to ask Ryan to postpone the wedding, so that her daughter will not have to marry him in her mother's body. Instead, "Tess" proposes a toast, finally accepting Ryan because of how happy he makes her mom. This act of selfless love switches back Anna's and Tess' bodies. Tess and Ryan later marry, she and Anna finally reconcile, realizing how tough their lives are, and Tess allows Anna to start dating Jake. At the wedding, Pei-Pei notices her mother offering Anna's grandfather, Alan, and Harry two fortune cookies after seeing them argue. She immediately rushes over, tackles them both, and grabs the cookies. During the credits, Anna is playing with her band at Ryan's and Tess's wedding.

Cast

Production

Development

Lohan's character was originally written as goth, but she did not think anyone would relate to that, and decided to dress in a

preppy Preppy (also spelled preppie) or prep (all abbreviations of the word ''preparatory'') is a subculture in the United States associated with the alumni of old private Northeastern college preparatory schools. The terms are used to denote a pe ...

style for her audition. The character ended up being rewritten as a grunge, alt-rock teen. Ryan Shuck coached Curtis to play the guitar solo for the concert scene. Lohan trained for one year to learn to play the guitar before production. In the final version of the film, both Curtis and Lohan's guitar parts were overdubbed by professional studio musicians.

Casting

Initially, producer Andrew Gunn had hoped that Jodie Foster, who played Annabel in the original 1976 film, would be interested in the role of the mother. Foster declined, citing concerns that her

stunt casting Stunt casting is the use of a gimmick or publicity stunt to fill a role in a television series, film, or theatre production. Jamie Lee Curtis was offered the role of Tess at the last minute, after Annette Bening dropped out for undisclosed reasons four days before filming began.

Kelly Osbourne Kelly Michelle Lee Osbourne (born 27 October 1984) is an English television personality, singer, actress, model, and fashion designer. The daughter of Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, she appeared on the reality show ''The Osbournes'' (2002–2005) wit ...

was originally set to play Maddie, but withdrew when her

mother ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ge ...

was diagnosed with cancer. She was replaced by Christina Vidal.

Tom Selleck Thomas William Selleck (; born January 29, 1945) is an American actor. His breakout role was playing private investigator Thomas Magnum in the television series '' Magnum, P.I.'' (1980–1988), for which he received five Emmy Award nominations ...

was originally cast as Ryan but dropped out when Annette Bening dropped out from the film. Marc McClure, who played Annabel's love interest in the 1976 film, makes a brief cameo as Boris the delivery man. The snapshots in the opening credits are photos of Curtis and her daughter, Annie Guest. In the final scene,

Dina Lohan Donata Melina Nicolette "Dina" Lohan ( ; ; born September 15, 1962) is an American television personality who rose to fame as the mother and manager of actress Lindsay Lohan. She is also the mother of Michael Jr., Aliana and Dakota Lohan. Earl ...

, Lindsay Lohan's mother and manager, makes an appearance as one of the wedding guests. Director Mark Waters also has a cameo holding a baby at the wedding.

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...

began on October 5, 2002, and wrapped on December 18, 2002.

Soundtrack

The orchestral score was written by Rolfe Kent and orchestrated by Tony Blondal. Lohan also recorded a song for the soundtrack, titled " Ultimate".

Reception

Box office

In its opening weekend, the film grossed $22.2 million in 2,954 theaters, finishing second at the box office, behind ''

S.W.A.T. In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...

'' ($37.1 million). The film went on to gross $110.2 million in North America and $50.6 million in other territories for a total of $160.8 million. The film was released in the United Kingdom on December 19, 2003, and opened at number four.

Critical response

''Freaky Friday'' received largely positive reviews from film critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, the film has an approval rating of 88% based on 155 reviews, with an average rating of 7.00/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan charm in Mark Waters' nicely pitched—and Disney's second—remake of the 1976 hit." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

the film has a score of 70 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

gave the film a grade of A− on a scale of A to F. Curtis's performance was singled out for praise by many critics. David Ansen of ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...

'' noted that, "the most startling metamorphosis is Curtis' transformation from fading horror flick queen to dazzling comedienne. She goes on a teenage tear—tormenting Anna's younger brother (who wonders why Mom's acting so weird), getting down and dirty on a TV talk show where Tess is supposed to discuss her book on aging—with fiercely funny conviction." Lisa Schwarzbaum from ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cult ...

'' called her performance "glorious", and A. O. Scott from ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' contended that she "does some of her best work ever

n ''Freaky Friday'' N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

" Independent reviewer Nick Davis described her as "so frisky and pouty and incandescent in ''Freaky Friday'', she made the whole movie feel like something special." Her performance was nominated for the

Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Golden means made of, or relating to gold. Golden may also refer to: Places United Kingdom *Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall * Golden Cap, Dorset * Golden Square, Soho, London *Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome in Gloucesters ...

. Lohan's performance was also praised.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

, who gave the film three out of four stars, described Lohan as possessing "that Jodie Foster sort of seriousness and intent focus beneath her teenage persona." The film earned her the award for Breakthrough Performance at the

2004 MTV Movie Awards The 2004 MTV Movie Awards were held June 5, 2004, and were hosted by Lindsay Lohan and featured performances by Beastie Boys, D12 and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Performers * Beastie Boys — "Ch-Check It Out" * Yeah Yeah Yeahs — "Maps" * D12 — "My ...

. The transformation scene, however, was criticized. While Ebert noted that Asian American actors were cast in the film simply to "supply magic potions, exotic elixirs, ancient charms and handy supernatural plot points", Nick Schager of ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yo ...

'' called it "a strange bit of 'Oriental mysticism' stereotyping that seems at odds with the film's thematic focus on tolerance and understanding." From ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

'', Ed Park summarized the premise as "some strange racist bullshit".

Home media

The film was released on DVD and VHS on December 16, 2003, by Walt Disney Home Entertainment. It was later released on

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of s ...

on March 27, 2018 as an exclusive through the Disney Movie Club program. The film is also available on the streaming service

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 1 ...

after its launch on November 12, 2019.

Accolades

; Won * 2004 – MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance to Lindsay Lohan * 2004 – Teen Choice Awards for Choice Breakout Movie Star – Female to Lindsay Lohan * 2004 – Teen Choice Award for Choice Hissy Fit to Lindsay Lohan * 2004 – Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards for Best Live Action Family Film * 2004 – BMI Film Music Award to Rolfe Kent ; Nominated * 2003 – Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy to Jamie Lee Curtis * 2004 –

to Jamie Lee Curtis * 2004 – Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film * 2004 – Saturn Award for Best Actress to Jamie Lee Curtis * 2004 – Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor to Lindsay Lohan * 2004 – Saturn Award for Best Writing to Heather Hach & Leslie Dixon * 2004 – Critics Choice Award for Best Family Film – Live Action * 2004 – Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards for Best Live Action Family Film * 2004 – Teen Choice Awards for Choice Movie – Comedy * 2004 – Young Artist Awards for Best Performance in a Feature Film – Leading Young Actress to Lindsay Lohan * 2004 – Young Artist Awards for Best Performance in a Feature Film – Young Actor Age Ten or Younger to Ryan Malgarini

Possible sequel

In October 2022,

expressed enthusiasm about making a ''Freaky Friday'' sequel alongside

after disclosing the two were still in touch during a fan event in Mexico. After news on her statement created buzz online, Curtis revealed on '' The View'' a few days later that she had already contacted Disney about it and shared a potential pitch. It was then reported Lohan would also be interested in returning for a sequel with Curtis if Disney proposed a new film. In an ''

Entertainment Tonight ''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American first-run syndicated news broadcasting newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Paramount Streaming. ET also airs in Aust ...

'' interview the following month, Lohan said: "I love Jamie. I would definitely love to work together again, and we have spoken so we will see. I think when you work with such incredible people, you always want to have a chance to work with them again, especially when so much time has passed, and to share those experiences and bring something great back to life for a new audience to see and a different generation, I think it's just the best." Lohan was asked again about the sequel in another interview on ''

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by comedian Jimmy Fallon. About pag ...

'', in which Lohan replied: "First of all — let’s just take the fact I was on set filming at the time, and Jamie Lee Curtis writes you and you just get excited and distracted immediately, so I had to bring myself down to earth and be, like, ‘okay I’m on set, I have to focus and then she said Freaky Friday 2 and I got more excited!" Lohan continued, "We would both be into it yeah, I'm not going to say no to Disney." A few days later, Curtis was asked if she thought that a sequel would ever happen, Curtis replied because of the difference in her age and Lohans age, it lends itself so beautifully. She continued, "The right people are talking. We're both committed to it, and it's not ours to make. It's Disney's to make and I think they're interested and we're talking. So that's as much as I can say." In another interview, Curtis added that " 'Freaky Friday' was so great, it has so much nostalgia to it, Young people love it, the people that grew up with it now are moms, they’re showing it to their kids. The music, Lindsay Lohan - its just a great movie , so it makes sense why we would do it again."
/ref>

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Freaky Friday (2003 film) Freaky Friday 2003 films Films about teenagers 2003 comedy films 2003 fantasy films 2000s American films 2000s English-language films 2000s fantasy comedy films 2000s romantic fantasy films 2000s teen comedy films 2000s teen fantasy films 2000s teen romance films American fantasy comedy films American teen comedy films American teen romance films Remakes of American films Body swapping in films Disney film remakes Films about dysfunctional families Films about weddings in the United States Films about wish fulfillment Films based on American novels Films directed by Mark Waters Films scored by Rolfe Kent Films set in Los Angeles Films shot in Los Angeles Films with screenplays by Leslie Dixon Films about mother–daughter relationships Walt Disney Pictures films